Review

Review Summary: Quite possibly one of the most dull, uninspired, and watered-down Christian nu-metal records to date.

After listening to Oxygen: Inhale, I can surely believe that Thousand Foot Krutch has committed one of the seven deadly sins in the Bible: sloth. A band that managed to make Christian nu-metal sound fun and enjoyable managed to make the laziest album of the year and I’m not sure whether to be shocked, or to laugh at them. It’s the year 2014 and all they have to show us is every guitar riff, drum beat, and lyrical theme that ever existed in the history of nu-metal? Apparently the answer is yes.

I can’t go down to the details of this album simply because there is none that exists in this. There isn’t a single song, guitar riff or vocal melody that is memorable enough to stand out amongst the huge crowd of radio rock groups that exist in the world, most of them having over ten times the popularity that Thousand Foot Krutch will ever have. Even when the lead single “Born This Way” (not the Lady Gaga song) came out, no one was even remotely interested. Trevor McNevan's rapping is ever more present in this record than it ever has since Set It Off and it just doesn’t work. It’s what made songs like “Light up the Sky” and “I Get Wicked” on the previous record such weak songs in the first place only to have the choruses to at least give out some energy. But even the choruses are lackluster in this as they’re every clichéd and tired lyrical line that P.O.D. and Linkin Park as thrown at us for years. The rest of the member’s attempts to attract you with their catchiness fail utterly as their contrived rhythms and beat kill the band’s energy as every song passes. It’s boring, and those who listen to it are just going to forget it existed in the first place.

This whole trend just keeps going on for 10 straight tracks, only to end with the blandest and most empty closer to any album I’ve ever listened to, “Glow.” It repeats practically every closer to every Thousand Foot Krutch album since Phenomenon but with a tired and contrived feel to it and it doesn’t do the band justice at all in the end. That’s it. That’s all that Oxygen: Inhale has to offer: a lazy and frustratingly bland interpretation of Christian nu-metal at its worst. Nothing else but a band attempting the same style they’ve been doing for years, trying to interest you with what they’ve got. For Thousand Foot Krutch, it’s going to be a tough couple of years to try and remove their thumbs out of their asses.

Thats one of my biggest gripes with Streetlight Manifesto. Even though theyre badass having to hear Toh go on one of his, as I like to call it, "self proclaimed athiest manifesto" rants in certain tracks really kills the whole vibe of things.